Eldest of four children,Bert L. Long born in 1940, was raised in the Fifth Ward, Houston, Texas. He is a born artist with no formal education in arts, and a born chef. As artist and sculptor, he won many, many awards. Specially notewothy among...

Born in Houston, Texas, and graduating from the University of Texas in Marketing and Business, Alan Becker started his career in Life insurance. In this interview, he discusses the rapid growth and development of Houston in the 1950s, and the...

When Coach Bum Phillips was head coach of the Houston Oilers, the team achieved the most wins in franchise history. In this interview Bum talks about his career as a football coach for the Oilers and for several other teams.

Joseph "Joe" Jamail talks about growing up in Houston in the 1930s and his career as one of the top lawyers in America. He is considered one of the wealthiest lawyers in the nation and is often referred to as the King of Torts. Joe has given...

Before coming to Houston in 1941, Thomas A. Elkins lived in Tuscon, Arizona. Elkins loved driving motorcycles and in 1958 he joined the Houston Police Department as a motorcycle officer. In his oral history, Elkins talks about the prejudice he...

Jane Ely describes her career as a journalist working for the Houston Post. She talks about gender discrimination in her field, the coverage of the J.F. Kennedy assassination, and other events that made news at the time.

In this interview from 1975, Louie Welch discusses his history as a politician in Houston. He began his career as a council member and served under Mayors Oscar Holcombe and Lewis Cutrer. Welch was then elected as Mayor to the City of Houston first...

Dick Gottlieb was a former TV entertainer who decided to run for city council in 1969. He beat the incumbent in a run-off election achieving an upset victory. He credited his TV image and prior experience as a fundraiser for local and national...